Motorcycles have been in existence for many years. These self-propelled two wheel vehicles have found a great increase in popularity over the past few decades, for both recreational and transportation purposes. Motorcycles are typically propelled by a gasoline engine which drives the rear wheel of the motorcycle via a transmission and either a chain drive or a shaft drive.
Motorcycle transmissions are rarely provided with a reverse gear (for propelling the motorcycle backwards) for a variety of reasons, including safety, cost and the fact that conventional chain drives "free wheel" in the reverse direction and will not propel the motorcycle backwards when the direction of travel of the chain is reversed. For this reason, the operator must provide reverse propulsion when it is necessary, for example, backing the motorcycle out of a tight parking location, by "walking" the motorcycle backwards. While this is not a great problem for most operators with a small lightweight motorcycle, it can be with the larger, heavier motorcycles which have found increasing popularity in recent years. The problem is particularly exacerbated when the operator is a smaller person who lacks the strength and agility to propel a heavy motorcycle out of a downhill parking space while preventing it from tipping over, as it has a tendency to do in such situations. This is a problem which frequently faces many women motorcycle operators.
Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a reverse drive apparatus for a motorcycle which functions independently of the motorcycle's main powertrain.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a reverse drive apparatus for a motorcycle which is battery powered.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a reverse drive apparatus for a motorcycle which can be adapted to a variety of different models of motorcycles.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a reverse drive apparatus for a motorcycle which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and install.